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PROPOSAL FOR REPRESENTATION OF SCHEDULED CASTES IN THE EXECUTIVE COUNCIL
N EW D ELHI, 7 J UNE 1945.
Dear Lord Wavell,
I am grateful to you for asking me in my capacity as the leader of the Scheduled Castes to be a member of the Conference which you propose to call in furtherance of your proposal for the Indianisation of the Executive Council. I told you, for reasons which I need not repeat here, that I am unable to accept your offer. Thereupon you desired me to name a substitute. Though I have expressed my disapproval with your proposals, I do not wish to deny you such help as you may derive from the presence of a Scheduled Castes representative in your Conference. I am, therefore, prepared to suggest a substitute. Judging on the suitability of various names that occur to me, I cannot think of any other name than that of Rao Bahadur N. Sivaraj., B.A., B.L. He is the President of the All India Scheduled Castes Federation and is also a member of the Central Legislative Assembly and of the National Defence Council. If you like, you may invite him to the Conference as a representative of the Scheduled Castes.
- There is one other matter to which I feel I must draw your attention right now. It relates to the extreme inadequacy of the representation given to the Scheduled Castes in His Majesty’s Government’s proposals for the reconstitution of the Executive Council. Five seats to 90 millions of Muslims, one seat to 50 millions of Untouchables and 1 seat to 6 millions of Sikhs is a strange and sinister kind of political arithmetic which is revolting to my ideas of justice and common sense. I cannot be a party to it. Measured by their needs, the Untouchables should get as much representation as the Muslims, if not more. Leaving needs aside and taking only numbers the Untouchables should get at least